Tattered Slippers
by Galadriadhar
Summary: On the one night Midna can't sleep, she finds a passageway to another world. Here she meets a boy. And she begins to fall in love with him.


A teenaged girl stood on the balcony overlooking a land of perpetual twilight. Her amber eyes twinkled like the ever-present stars above. Her name? Midna.

It just so happened that that night, Midna couldn't sleep. She had tossed and turned for two hours. After that, she got up and went outside on the balcony.

Finally, she got tired of being outside, so she went inside. Midna opened her wardrobe to change back into day clothes. She pulled out a dress inscribed with green lines.

She finished pulling on the dress, and noticed a light coming from the back of her wardrobe. Her curiosity aroused, Midna pulled the clothes apart and gasped. There was a passageway in the back of her wardrobe. She stepped up into the wardrobe and closed the door behind her.

Midna walked down the strangely well-lit passageway. As far as she could see, there were no light sources. Casting this phenomenon aside, she soon came to a door. She opened it, and was met with a long hallway.

She climbed out of the cabinet, as she saw it was, and closed the door, committing the spot to memory. Following the sound of people, she found a pair of open double doors. Midna went through the doors and entered a grand hall, filled with dancing couples. A regal courtier stood off to the side. He saw Midna enter, and walked over to her.

"What is your name and where are you from, miss?" the courtier asked.

"Midna, from the Twilight Realm," Midna replied in a soft voice.

The courtier turned from Midna and announced to the hall, "Princess Midna, of the Kingdom of Twilight." Turning back to Midna, he whispered, "Good luck."

"Thank you," Midna said, a bit confused at what he meant. She walked down the steps onto the main floor of the hall. Looking around, she saw a gaggle of ladies following a sandy-haired teenage boy as he danced with a red-haired girl. When he bowed to the redhead, each of the other ladies begged to dance with him. The boy turned around in a circle, seeking a way out. Then he saw Midna. Excusing himself, the boy walked towards Midna.

The boy approached Midna and bowed. "Miss, will you dance?" he asked. Midna blushed; she didn't know why. Probably from being noticed, she thought.

"I don't really know how to dance," Midna admitted.

"It's alright. Just follow me," the boy said.

"Well, okay. Why not?" The boy took her hand and led her out into the throng of people. Taking her left hand, placing her left hand on his shoulder, and putting his right hand on her waist, he began swaying to the music. Midna blushed again.

The boy danced Midna through the crowd; the people parted like a sea before them. For a few moments, both were silent. Then, the boy took the initiative.

"So, what's your name? I didn't hear the courtier announce your arrival."

"I'm Midna."

The boy nodded. "Midna. That is a good name. I like it. Where are you from?"

"The Twilight Realm."

"Hmm." The boy cocked his head. "Never heard of it. Is it far?"

"I... don't know. Where am I?" Midna questioned.

"Hyrule Castle. This is the wonderful land of Hyrule." The boy looked at her incredulously. "How do you not know where you are?"

Midna looked around. As far as she could see, the gaggle of ladies had left them alone, and no one else was paying attention to them. She leaned in close to the boy. "I'm not really sure how I got here. I went through a passageway in my room, and I ended up in a cabinet in the hallway outside."

"Ah. Probably magic. I wouldn't be too surprised. Magic is very common here, and it's probably common in the Twilight Realm as well."

Midna nodded in agreement. "Magic is common in my realm as well." She looked around again, a little embarrassed about what she was about to ask. "I'm sorry to ask this, but what's your name?"

The boy took his hand off her waist and put it to his head. "Of course! I should have realized when you said you didn't know where you were. My name is Link." He put his hand back on her waist and continued swaying.

"Just Link? No honorifics?" Midna asked.

"Well, to tell the truth, I'm a Prince. The Prince of Hyrule, to be exact," Link said.

Midna looked at him with curiosity etched on her face. "Why do you sound... embarrassed?"

"My parents threw this ball for my seventeenth birthday," Link explained. "They want me to find a lady to fall in love with. They believe that six hours is enough to produce adulation. It's somewhat hard to stomach their beliefs. I'd rather marry for love after a year than marry for an overblown crush in six hours."

"I understand that. I turn seventeen next month, and my parents will probably throw a ball for me. I wish they would let me wait for love," Midna remarked.

"Then we're the same," Link said. The two danced for a while in silence, listening to the soothing music played by some musicians situated on a dais.

As they turned through the dancing motions, the musicians changed from general slow dance music to waltz music. Link pulled Midna closer to him, guided her left hand around his shoulders onto his left shoulder, and put his right hand on her back. Midna started blushing heavily, so she turned her face away from his. She could feel his warm breath on her cheek.

Link seemed completely oblivious to Midna's reaction. He continued leading the dancing, and they kept in silence.

After three more changes in song, all staying in waltz time, Midna finally gained the courage to look back at Link. He noticed her looking at him, and asked, "Why did you look away, Midna? You can tell me."

Midna looked into Link's eyes and saw a warmth that made her feel safe. She said, "I would never tell anyone else this. But I feel so safe with you."

"Well, I'm glad that you feel safe. I try my best to make those I dance with feel safe."

"Well, the reason I looked away was... I was blushing. I didn't want you to know."

Link regarded her with a calculating eye. "You were blushing? You did a good job hiding it. Why were you blushing? Or do you not want to say?"

"Being this close to you made me blush," Midna admitted.

"Why? Do you have a crush on me?" Link gently teased.

"No!" Midna exclaimed. "I mean, uh, maybe, not really, well, if I did I wouldn't tell you, so, no?" Midna blushed with embarrassment.

Link smiled at her. "Hey, it's okay. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. Let's talk about something else."

Midna mentally sighed in relief. "What should we talk about?"

"Hmm. How about our parents?"

"Alright," Midna agreed.

"I'll start," Link said. "My parents are King Banzetta and Queen Loretta. They have my best interests in mind, I'm sure, but they sometimes don't understand my choices. Take for example my most recent girlfriend. She was a little... crazy, but I liked her all the same. They forbid me from seeing her anymore. I wonder if they would accept my current love."

"Have they ever met her?" Midna asked.

"No, they haven't. I haven't really had the chance to introduce her to them. I just met her tonight."

"So your parents' plan was a success?"

"As much as I hate to admit it, yes. But, sometimes you know who you want to be with after just a few hours. Do you know what I mean?"

Midna smiled. "Yes. I do. So, what's her name?"

Link leaned in close. "I'll tell you if you promise not to blurt it out."

Midna leaned in towards him. "Okay. I promise."

"She is... you, Midna."

Midna leaned back, shocked. Link was in love with her? Why? But, why was she questioning it? Hadn't she been having feelings for him while they were dancing? She leaned in close again.

"The truth is, Link," she whispered. "I love you, too." Surprise flared in Link's eyes. It was then replaced by acceptance. Link leaned in, Midna followed his example. Their lips met, and their eyes closed. They were kissing, kissing passionately.

Link and Midna stayed locked together for what seemed like hours, people dancing around them. They were completely oblivious to their surroundings. Off on a balcony, King Banzetta and Queen Loretta watched their son joyfully. Down on the dais, a musician pulled out a gong and hit it. The resounding clang jolted Midna and Link out of their bliss. They looked at each other and, realizing what they had done, blushed and looked down at the ground.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me," Link stammered.

"No, it's my fault. I don't know what came over me," Midna stumbled.

On an impulse, Link looked to where his parents were sitting. Midna followed his gaze, and saw King Banzetta giving Link a wide grin. Queen Loretta was smiling as well. Link turned back to Midna, a smile on his face.

"I think they approve," Link said simply.

Midna was about to say something when the clock started chiming the hour. Midna counted the chimes. Ten, eleven, twelve... Twelve?

"I have to go!" Midna exclaimed. "I'm sorry! I have to get back before the guards check up on me!" She ran off through the crowd towards the double doors. Link chased after her.

"Wait!" Link called.

Midna rushed through the doors and down the hallway to the cabinet. She was acutely aware of the tattered state of the dancing slippers on her feet. She found the cabinet and yanked it open just as Link entered the hallway. Having yanked the door open, she jumped into the cabinet and closed it. As she ran down the passageway in the cabinet, Link threw the door on the cabinet open and gazed after Midna.

"Midna," Link whispered, as the passageway turned slowly back into the back of the cabinet.

Meanwhile, Midna was running down the slowly transforming passageway. Looking back, she saw the brightly lit corridor gradually being doused in darkness. Midna knew without being told that this meant the passageway was dissolving. She turned to the front and saw a pair of doors and knew that they were her wardrobe doors. Bursting through the doors, she startled a pair of guards that were combing her room.

"Princess? Where were you?" the guard on the right asked.

"I was hiding in this wardrobe, waiting to scare you, Derrimore," Midna replied.

The two guards looked at each other in disbelief. "If you say so, Princess," Derrimore said slowly. The two guards walked to the door of Midna's room. "We'll leave you now, Princess. Please get some rest," Derrimore said. Derrimore closed the door behind him and the other guard.

Midna turned back to the wardrobe. There was no sign of the light of the passageway, and Midna knew that it was gone. Probably for good, she thought.

She changed out of her dress and put on her sleepwear. Climbing into bed, she flicked her wrist. The motion, combined with inherent magic, turned off the light. As she laid in bed, her mind raced with thoughts of Link. He loved her. And she had to leave just as they had received approval from Link's parents. They hadn't even said goodbye.

For now, all she had to remember him were a pair of tattered dancing slippers.

A/N: Another one-shot to my name. I'm quite happy with how this ended up, mostly because I had such a hard time getting motivated to write it. This was inspired by DarkeSword's remix of Midna's Desperate Hour, called 'Tattered Slippers.' It was also inspired by the story/movie Cinderella. Please tell me what you think. I would love to know.

Also, this may turn into a multi-chaptered fic someday. In fact, it probably will. For right now, though, I have more than enough unfinished stories to work on.


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